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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23285464">Devotion</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/titaniumsansa/pseuds/titaniumsansa'>titaniumsansa</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Song of Ice and Fire &amp; Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Related, F/F, Lesbian Margaery Tyrell, Margaery Tyrell Lives, Not Canon Compliant, Queen in the North, Sansa Stark is Queen in the North, Sort Of, show canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 10:27:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,430</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23285464</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/titaniumsansa/pseuds/titaniumsansa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A sequel of sorts to Familiarity by Sunkelles. Sansa and Margaery deal with their present situation and their unnamed relationship in Winterfell</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sansa Stark/Margaery Tyrell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>133</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Devotion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/gifts">sunkelles</a>.</li>


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/20274346">Familiarity</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/pseuds/sunkelles">sunkelles</a>.
        </li>

    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> There are perks to having a brother as king, it turns out. Sansa manages to get shipments of things from the South. Margaery can practically smell the warm summer air off the merchants who come prepared to haggle with her. As the steward, it's her job now and not Sansa's. Still, the Northern Queen's love for lemon cake is well known, and she pays the merchants who have knowing smiles on their faces. </p><p> </p><p> It's not exactly her job to make Sansa happy, but it's so easy to. These crates of lemons will make her smile and the castle in a better mood. Lemon will fill the halls, a welcome presence. Sansa loves lemon cakes but she adores the recipe Margaery remembers from the Reach for sweet lemon water. It'll be used for laundry, to keep white fabrics gleaming, to help keep metals looking pristine, and in dishes. Sansa has changed from the hopeful girl she first met, but there are some things she didn't change. Despite the acid in the lemons she's so fond of, Sansa can still be sweeter than her lemon cakes.</p><p> </p><p> Margaery knows there are things she can't let go of either, as she tries her best to write down all of the recipes she remembers from home. Perhaps the next time she needs to check the stores and with the kitchen, maybe she'll ask Sansa if she can ask for peaches or fireplums. Apples. Rosehip soup, pomegranates, strawberries. She misses the food from Dorne too, but that would be a much more difficult request. Maybe just one of them first. If Sansa's fond of lemons, she'll likely like peaches and sweeter fruits.</p><p> </p><p>  She likes the food of Winterfell, they had honeyed chicken with roasted turnips last night. It's common to have hearty meals and black beer. Meat and root vegetables, but less fruit. The sunshine here bites differently than in the Reach. While too much time outside might have made her skin hot and red in Highgarden, too much of the cold sunshine here bites at her with frozen teeth. </p><p> </p><p> There have been so many nights of being pressed together, so many days talking, together in almost every sense. The amount of warmth present in the North is surprising. Sansa herself is surprising as well. There have been nights she's shivered against the queen while half-awake, and Sansa's carefully adjusted the furs and pressed her warm body into Margaery's. It's unspoken, never brought up even within the safety of Sansa's rooms. Margaery has her own room closeby, but she's rarely in it at night. She remembers the day Sansa showed her the gardens and called her Jenny of Oldstones.</p><p> </p><p> Despite their steady absence, the Stark siblings still have their rooms untouched. Sansa has the keys in her room and Margaery's never been interested in finding them. Arya's room, Bran's room, Rickon's, Robb's, they were returned to how the queen remembered, and haven't been touched since. Margaery thinks of her siblings, all dead. The loss of Loras hurt the most. They spent the most time together, always more alike than not, and the fact she survived him hurts her more than anything else. It is easier to think of her parents being peacefully gone, her cousins, uncles, aunts, distant people she's never spent months at a time with. <em> There is no such thing as living completely unscathed, </em> she thinks.</p><p> </p><p> Sansa is kneeling in the Godswood in front of the weirwood heart tree she's so fond of. Margaery thinks of what the old gods despise, incest and slaying of one's kin, slavery, disrespecting hospitality, defiling the Godswood with animals, but direwolves must be the exception. She thinks of Jon Snow and how he left for past the wall. Perhaps he wanted to flee the old gods in some way since he laid with his kin and then slayed her. There is no need for a Wall anymore. </p><p> </p><p> Margaery is aware of the stupidity of throwing stones though. She kneels next to Sansa. No lies can be passed in front of this tree and yet her queen was married here once. Enough horrible memories to make anyone want to flee this place to never return. Sansa could try vying for the Vale, the Crownlands, or even throw her hand into the seven factions squabbling over Margaery's home. </p><p> </p><p> After spending so much time together, it's easier to guess Sansa's thoughts now.</p><p> "I burned the wedding dress Ramsay made me wear. I burned a good many things. There were things I gave to my people instead, the clothes of the Boltons without their symbols. I had Gendry melt down many of their things, and take that metal someplace new. Far away from me and my rightful home," Sansa informs her. Margaery raises an eyebrow.</p><p> </p><p> "Gendry?" Margaery asks. Sansa rewards her question with a quick smile.</p><p> "A bastard son of Robert Baratheon. My sister found him and later they went different ways. He is the last of the Baratheons. He found Jon and worked on creating weapons with dragonglass for the battle. He left with Arya," Sansa tells her.</p><p> Margaery wonders about the pain Sansa must feel, one of the last Starks, alone in the North. She remembers Sansa's prayers for her family when they were in King's Landing. She has family that's alive, but split into pieces, like struck limbs. Margaery would be inconsolable if Willas, Garlan, and Loras were alive and left her, like Sansa's siblings abandoned her. </p><p> </p><p> "It's so odd to be the last of a line," Margaery voices. While she managed to avoid the dragon queen, she always had a faint interest in the last of the Targaryens. If Gendry wanted to court the younger Stark sister, Margaery could see him traveling to ask Bran to legitimize him. It's hard to picture Arya wanting to rule over the Stormlands, despite how much of a force of nature she is.</p><p> "It's time for tea." </p><p> </p><p> Sansa interrupts her thoughts but Margaery doesn't mind, just like she doesn't mind the way Sansa reaches for her hand and leads the way. If she closed her eyes, it could be like being in King's Landing again, sneaking a few kisses in places without eyes. The Godswood would be a highly inappropriate place for that, though. </p><p> Would Sansa want to be married again? Margaery wonders. But before she can ask the question, they're away from the weirwood tree.</p><hr/><p> </p><p> She reaches to kiss Sansa, who arches her back in response. Margaery wants to get rid of what's left of their clothes but pauses. Sansa makes an annoyed noise in response and opens her eyes.</p><p> "You would tell me if you didn't desire any of this, right?" Margaery asks. Surprise colors Sansa's previously blissful face. If she was braver, she'd ask if Sansa would tell her if she didn't want <em> her </em>. </p><p> </p><p> "No one makes me do anything I don't want, not anymore. I would strike off the hand of anyone who dared to touch me without my permission," Sansa murmurs. Margaery pulls back, but Sansa reaches for her with her arms, one hand on her cheek, and the other near her ribs.</p><p> </p><p> "I always want you," Sansa divulges. She kisses Margaery's face tenderly, everywhere but her lips.</p><p> "You'd tell me if you didn't?" Margaery asks almost desperately. Sansa's hand on her waist moves to start removing Margaery's smallclothes.</p><p> "I'll always want you," Sansa assures her, and shifts their teasing affection into a more aggressive lean. It's hard to think with Sansa on top of her.</p><hr/><p> </p><p>It's a lovely surprise and Sansa will wake up hungry after all they did the night before.</p><p> "Good morning," Margaery says. Sansa blinks at her sleepily, looking at Margaery's gray dress and back to the bed next to her.</p><p> "You left," Sansa says. Margaery nods. It was hard to maneuver out of the long limbs Sansa splayed over her while dreaming, but she managed. </p><p> </p><p> "I promise it was worth it," Margaery says. Sansa notices the hands behind her back and sits up in bed, not bothering with modesty. Margaery moves her hands forward to present a red treasure.</p><p> "Strawberry pie," Sansa says and grins. A lovely breakfast.</p><p> "I made this by hand in the kitchen this morning," Margaery tells her. An old family recipe she remembered begging for as a child. She made this for her grandmother once. Her heart aches in her chest at the thought but Sansa looks awed.</p><p> </p><p> "I haven't had strawberry pie since I was a child," Sansa says. Margaery doubts her choice for a moment before Sansa speaks again.</p><p> "Come eat it in bed with me," she requests. Margaery does just that, remarking she shouldn't deny her queen.</p><hr/><p> </p><p> There comes a time Margaery only sees Sansa in her rooms, for over a fortnight. The Northern Lords demand all of her queen's attention and she's not privy to those talks. They could be telling her anything. One night, Sansa slips into her bedroom where Margaery's already waiting. Sansa holds Margaery's face in her hands.</p><p> "Are you happy?" Sansa questions. Margaery was expecting to be kissed and stares for a moment.</p><p> "I am happy," Margaery promises. This is the only place she wants to be, even if Sansa just wants to hold her close tonight. She's never been devoted to someone like this before.</p><p> "Are you happy with me?" Sansa presses. Margaery knows she must need reassurance. Her siblings left her, it might be difficult to see why anyone else would stay.</p><p> "I am very happy with you, Sansa," Margaery answers honestly.</p><p> "Are you happy in the North?" Sansa presses on.</p><p> </p><p> "I would be happy anywhere I am with you, as long as you want me by your side. There is no place I would rather be, than here with you," Margaery assures her. Sansa's thumbs stroke her face but Margaery resists the urge to close her eyes and lean into the sensation.</p><p> </p><p> "I could have the Reach secured for you. You have served me well. If you ever want to leave the cold, I can send you home to the flowers and orchards. You can reclaim your home as I've reclaimed mine," Sansa offers. Perhaps before she arrived in Winterfell, that would have been exactly what she wanted, and she would have played along until she got what she wanted from Sansa. Now though, the Reach isn't enough. The Reach would be a green graveyard, despite the loveliness. The fruit she's so fond of would sour on her tongue, growing strong with the blood of the slain in the ground. </p><p> "I don't want it," Margaery insists. Sansa looks at her intently, hands increasing in pressure, but not in a way that would cause pain. It's important to keep her gaze and wait. Sansa blinks first and presses a kiss to Margaery's mouth.</p><p> </p><p> She's not willing to admit to anyone just yet how the Northern Lords planted seeds of doubt in her mind about her Southron lover. </p><p> "Forever. I want you here with me forever," Sansa murmurs.</p><p> "Forever then," Margaery vows.</p><hr/><p> </p><p>Arya Stark arrives one day, a storm in skin, with Gendry Baratheon following behind.</p><p> Sansa beams at her sister, happy to have her for however long. Margaery wonders how long it will be before she leaves again, and hurts Sansa in the process. Margaery does her best to keep a pleasant expression on her face, but Arya's eyes narrow at her anyway.</p><p> "Who is this?" Arya questions. Gendry is peering at her too, but Margaery is not a stranger to questioning eyes. Sansa looks to Margaery before she speaks for herself.</p><p> "Margaery, steward of House Stark."</p><p> Sansa waits for her sister to narrow her eyes further.</p><p> "Margaery <em> Tyrell </em>?" Arya wonders.</p><p> "Yes. She is under my protection. It is my choice to have her here. My stance on this will not be changed," Sansa informs her sister. The words cause a burst of warmth in her chest, but Margaery keeps her face impassive. </p><p> </p><p> "Very well," Arya shrugs. They join Sansa and Margaery for dinner that night, and she notices Gendry slips out of his room to join Arya in hers. It's not her business. After Arya's door is closed, she walks over to Sansa's room, and forgets about the other Stark sister completely. A few weeks later, Rickon appears from out of Bran's shadow, back in Winterfell as well, with a girl with a shy smile. </p><p> Winterfell is more a home than Margaery has ever seen before. Sansa leads them on a walk through the woods one day, despite how much Margaery feels she doesn't belong with the Starks and their beloveds. The canopy of trees is lovely, the conversation is sparse. A giant wolf comes bounding up to Arya and she squeals. Margaery is quite sure she will never hear that sound out of Arya ever again. Arya beams at the wolf she wraps her arms around.</p><p> "Nymeria," she cries. The name reminds Margaery of something but it takes a moment to recall it. A direwolf puppy comes bounding after her. Another follows behind it. </p><p> "She's had four puppies," Sansa says, before approaching Nymeria.</p><p> </p><p> Nymeria lets Sansa gently pick up the smallest of the litter, with bright yellow eyes.</p><p> "This one looks like Shaggydog," Arya murmurs, gently handing a black puppy to Rickon. Another tries to attack Gendry's boot with all the ferocity a puppy that size can muster.</p><p> There's a peace that comes over Margaery looking at the scene. This is how things are meant to be. She almost jumps when Sansa holds something warm into her arms.</p><p> "This one was at your feet. I think she's meant to be yours," Sansa whispers. This solidifies her place in House Stark and wonders what the implications of this are. </p><hr/><p> </p><p>That night, it seems like Sansa can't wait to have her close, as the puppies sleep together on their own soft beds. </p><p> When they're done, she holds her queen loosely with her eyes closed.</p><p> "Did you have any marriage traditions in the Reach?" Sansa wonders, idly tracing rings into Margaery's naked back. A few moons ago, she might have stiffened at the question. Now, warm in Sansa's bed, more certain of <em> her </em>  than she's ever been of  <em> anyone, </em> she doesn't hesitate to answer.</p><p> </p><p> "Couples eat pomegranates together during courtship. And after the wedding, there's a feast with dancing and a wedding cake with the people present," Margaery tells her. </p><p> "Do your people prefer the warmer months to be wed?" Sansa wonders.</p><p> "I don't know, when do Northerners tend to get married?" Margaery asks.</p><p>The Reach isn't hers and she doesn't want it. Sansa kisses her for her answer.</p>
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